Southern Byways

Tales from the Road: It’s Great Way to End the Trip: Seafood, Commodores and Commander’s Palace

by Apryl on October 14th, 2008

Due to technical difficulties, Tales from the Road was delayed.

Well, as much as I hate it, all good things must come to an end, even my visit to the beach. There really isn’t a better way to end it than with a bang by attending the 30th Annual Destin (Fla.) Seafood Festival, followed by dinner at Commander’s Palace (yes, that one.)

Not only was I returning back to HarborWalk (yes, a lot of events and activities go on here), but so was the Destin Seafood Festival. After 30 years, the event was coming back to the place that it started - the harbor. Not having been to a seafood festival for a while, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Here’s a bit of advice: don’t go on an empty stomach, or maybe I should say, go on a empty stomach if you want to sample all of the good food. Since dinner was at Commander’s Palace later, all I could do was enjoy all of the great seafood smells, and enjoy I did! Local places like Louisiana Lagniappe, Fisherman’s Wharf and others were working hard preparing fresh seafood dishes for the crowds. There was also arts and crafts booths as well as and more. I was lucky enough to be at there on Saturday night (10/4) to hear the Commodores perform. I wasn’t able to get too close, but thanks to the movie screen was able to catch a glimpse of them and hear one of my favorites, “Easy (Like Sunday Morning).”

After 45 minutes at the festival, it was time to head toward Commanders’ Palace and dinner. The restaurant had just opened in late summer, and don’t laugh when I say this, but (to me) it still had the new restaurant/building smell.

The restaurant itself is located on the second level of the building to take advantage of its views of the harbor. Downstairs is the sleek looking bar area (and just a note, if you happen to be in the area during the all-important college football or NFL season, ESPN is on the bar’s televisions.)

Back at the restaurant, it was time for the most difficult part - deciding what to order. Two things in particular on the menu had caught my eye and appetite, and yes, they’re both appetizers or “Little Tastes” as they are referred to on Commander’s Palace’s menu. The Shrimp and Tasso Corndogs  (highly recommended; I wanted to order more and make my meal out of them alone) and New Orleans Shrimp Remoulade. I ended up ordering the former as part of my meal and the later was an appetizer along with Festival of Florida Ceviche and the Artisan  Cheese “Palette.”

Other choices on the menu included soups, such as Turtle Soup or Soups 1-1-1, which is a sampling of gumbo, turtle soup and the soup of the day.  Salad choices ranged from Adelaide’s Spinach Salad that included pepper jelly bacon, and the Commander’s Chop Salad with cane jelly glazed bacon.

For those who had room for the entree, those choices featured dishes such as Old Fashioned Duck Breast, Blue Crab Stuffed Flounder or the Lyonnaise Redfish Vacarro. 

Drooling yet?

Another option (oh, yes; remember this is a Louisiana-based restaurant and if you know anything about food in Louisiana, it is served plentiful) is the complete dinners that include soup or salad, entree and dessert.

As tempting as it all was, I felt like I had been eating my way through Destin (not a bad thing at all), so I opted to go for what I was thought would be light. I ordered the   Tabasco Smoked Duck and Oyster Gumbo (good choice, if you like a little spicy kick.)  

Time for dessert. I didn’t see Bananas Foster anywhere on the menu, so I had to ask. It turned out that they just got the appropriate pans for this dessert and would be implementing it in their menu in a couple of weeks. It takes some skill to produce Bananas Foster. However, don’t think for a minute that the desserts are a disappointment. I like to point you toward the Warm Dark Chocolate “Black Out” cake, served with chocolate-covered espresso beans and black sea salt. There is also a very nice looking Creole Bread Pudding Souffle. This is just two of the desserts you can find on the menu.

In addition to dinner, Commander’s Palace also has a lunch menu (Crispy Apalachicola Oyster Salad or Shrimp & Grits Nassau, anyone?) and a Sunday Jazz Brunch menu that includes BlackStrap Rum Lacquered Bobwhite Quail and Commander’s Eggs Cochon.

Photo credits: personal collection

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